Crossing Borders - Hungary meets the West

The Cultural Centre "Technopolis 20" presents Dr. Zsuzsanna Császár (Szegedi Tudományegyetem Zeneművészeti Kar) and Dr Nicolas Costantinou (University of Nicosia) for a piano recital, on Friday, April 24 at 20.30, entitled "Crossing Borders: Hungary meets the West".

Programme to include works by Scarlatti, Haydn, Bartók, Liszt, Onslow, and Brahms.

Tickets: 15 euros / 10 euros (students, soldiers, pensioners)

Information and Reservations at 70002420

A few words about the artists:

Dr Zsuzsanna Császár
Dr Zsuzsanna Császár completed her piano studies at the Franz Liszt College of Music at the Conservatory of Szeged (now: Faculty of Music of the University of Szeged) where she has worked with professors Ilona Lucz and Ferenc Kerek. After receiving her Teaching and Artist degree she enrolled for postgraduate studies at the Würzburg Music College in Germany where she studied for two years. During the years 2004–2007 she had been a doctoral student at the Ferenc Liszt University of Music in Budapest where her supervisors included pianist Márta Gulyás and musicolo-gist Katalin Komlós. In 2008 she was awarded the title Doctor of Liberal Arts.

Dr Császár has participated in numerous International and National competitions winning various prizes such as the second prize at the National Bartók Béla National College Competition. Zsuzsanna was also a finalist at the Gail-larde International Piano Competition (France).

During her studies she was awarded twice the Hungarian Republic Scholarship and the Bavarian State Provin-cial Arts Scholarship. Further, in 2006, she received the City of Szeged Arts Fellowship and in 2011 the Artisjus Prize.

Dr Császár often gives solo and chamber music recitals as well as master-classes throughout Hungary as well as abroad. She is currently a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Music of the University of Szeged.

Dr Nicolas Costantinou
Dr. Costantinou is renowned for impressing his audience with his daring selection of repertoire, old and new, and his ability to perform with extraordinary instrumental ensembles. He has been hailed by critics as '...an artist of deep emo-tions, who is capable of performing music with his whole being and soul...' whilst his interpretations have been de-scribed as 'colossal' and 'dramatic'.

Dr. Costantinou has given numerous concerts all over Europe and the USA and regularly appears in prestigi-ous halls such as Wigmore Hall, the Brahms Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna, the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, and the grand Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. He is regularly invited to perform at international festi-vals around Europe such as the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, the Oulunsalo Soi Music Festival (Finland), the Gödöllő Chamber Music Festival (Hungary), the Ledra Music Soloists International Chamber Music Festival and the Kypria Festival (Cyprus). His debut in London's prestigious Wigmore Hall was received with favourable reviews. He has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Russian Chamber Philharmonic St. Petersburg, the Budapest Con-cert Orchestra, the Failoni Chamber Orchestra, and the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, with maestros such as Konrad von Abel, Juri Gilbo and Esa Heikkilä.

Dr Costantinou graduated from the Ferenc Liszt College of Music in Szeged, the Ferenc Liszt University of Music in Budapest summa cum laude and holds a Master of Music in Performance from the U.S. Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2012, he was awarded a doctorate of philosophy (PhD) from London's Royal College of Music under the supervision of Prof. Paul Banks, Dr. Julian Jacobson and Dr. Jane Roper. His thesis is entitled The Chamber Music of Ernő Dohnányi; Tradition, Innovation and 'Hungarianness'. He has also studied with Márta Gulyás, Dr. Daniel Shapiro, Sándor Falvai and Ferenc Kerek and he has participated in master-classes held by acknowledged pianists such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Nicolas Economou, Vadim Suchanov and Ferenc Rádos. Dr Costantinou is currently a Lecturer at the University of Nicosia and also teaches at the Nicosia Music Lyceum.